Botanical classification: Prunus persica. 
Variety denomination: xe2x80x98Western Sweetxe2x80x99.
In a continuing effort to improve the quality of shipping fruits, I, the inventor, typically hybridize a large number of peach, nectarine, plum, apricot, and cherry seedlings each year. I also grow a lesser number of open pollinated seedlings of each of these fruits, usually to capture the recessive traits. The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of nectarine tree, which has been denominated varietally as xe2x80x98Western Sweetxe2x80x99. In 1996 I gathered fruit from an unnamed nectarine seedling that was yellow in flesh color, sub-acidic in flavor, and freestone in type. The seeds were removed, stratified, germinated, and grown as seedlings on their own root in my greenhouse, and upon reaching dormancy transplanted to a cultivated area of my experimental orchard at Bradford Farms near Le Grand, Calif. in Merced County (San Joaquin Valley). During the fruit evaluation season of 1999 I selected the present variety as a single plant from the group described above. Specifically, the variety was developed as a second generation cross using xe2x80x98Red Glenxe2x80x99 (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,193) yellow flesh nectarine as the selected seed parent and an unnamed white flesh freestone nectarine seedling as the selected pollen parent. However, this unnamed pollen parent was itself a first generation cross using xe2x80x98August Redxe2x80x99 (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 6,363) yellow flesh nectarine as its selected seed parent and xe2x80x98Bradcrimxe2x80x99 (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 8,461) white flesh nectarine as its selected pollen parent. Subsequent to origination of the present variety of nectarine tree, I asexually reproduced it by budding and grafting in the experimental orchard described above, and such reproduction of plant and fruit characteristics were true to the original plant in all respects. The reproduction of the variety included the use of xe2x80x98Nemaguardxe2x80x99 (unpatented) rootstock upon which the present variety was compatible and true to type.
The present variety is similar to xe2x80x98August Redxe2x80x99, one of its selected pollen grandparents, by producing nectarines that are nearly globose in shape, yellow in flesh color, mostly red in skin color, and firm in texture but is quite distinguished therefrom by producing nectarines that are freestone instead of clingstone in type, sub-acidic instead of acidic in flavor, and mature about seven weeks earlier.
The present variety is similar to xe2x80x98Bradcrimxe2x80x99, the other selected pollen grandparent, by producing nectarines that are nearly globose in shape, freestone in type, and sub-acidic in flavor, but is quite distinguished therefrom by producing nectarines that are yellow instead of white in flesh color, larger in size, and mature about one week later.
The present variety is most similar to xe2x80x98Grand Sweetxe2x80x99 (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 11,954) nectarine, by producing nectarines that are very firm in texture, nearly full red in skin color, yellow in flesh color, and sub-acidic in flavor, but is distinguished therefrom by producing nectarines that are larger in size, freestone instead of clingstone in type, mature about 5 days earlier, and have a sweet instead of bitter kernel.
In summary, the present variety is characterized by a medium size, vigorous, hardy, self-fertile, productive and regular bearing tree. The fruit matures under the ecological conditions described in early July, with first picking on Jul. 7, 2002. The fruit is uniformly large in size, sub-acidic and sweet in flavor, slightly oblong in shape, freestone in type, firm in texture, yellow in flesh color, and mostly red in skin color.